Dand according to the French news agency France-Presse (AFP), the protest action extended from Lisbon to Vilnius, passing through Paris, Berlin and The Hague, among other cities in which Russian citizens went to the local embassy at the same time. Time to cast your vote and thus show your criticism of Vladimir Putin’s Presidency.
In Paris, under the rain, thousands of Russians, with rubber boots or umbrellas, lined up more than 600 meters long at 12:30 local time.
“I will use my ballot as a pamphlet,” said Tatiana Léontieva, 43, adding: “I think I will write ‘Navalny’, I will say that Putin is illegitimate, that I support democratic values.”
“If Putin gets 3% to 5% here, it will be a success for him”, joked Gennadi Goudkov, another Russian voter in Paris who guarantees that many compatriots crossed out the ballot papers.
For Ivan Zhdanov, who runs Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday’s midday protest was a success, even in Russian cities, despite “intimidation” by authorities.
“This is a symbolic demonstration, but we also know that many dictatorships fall after similar events,” he added, in an interview with AFP in the Lithuanian capital.
In Belgrade, many opponents unfurled a banner in front of a polling station with the inscription “Putin is not Russia”, to the applause of some Russians who had gone to place their ballot in the ballot box.
“Many people will cross out their ballots so that they are not valid, voting for several candidates. If I have time, I will do the same,” said opposition politician Peter Nikitin.
In The Hague, thousands of Russians lined up several hundred meters in front of the Russian embassy, around which a police cordon was set up, according to Dutch media. Some were dressed in blue and white, the opposition colors, and others waved Ukrainian flags or laid flowers in front of a portrait of Alexei Navalny.
In Istanbul, where tens of thousands of Russians have taken refuge, 400 meters of queues outside the Russian consulate witnessed the exiles’ determination to denounce the rule of the Kremlin leader, AFP found.
In Lisbon, hundreds of Russians waited in order for their turn to vote at the embassy of their country of origin and many of them did not hide their desire to change, but also some disbelief in the electoral process.
“I’m going to vote anti-Putin and this is the hope, that one day this Putin dictatorship will end”, actress Anna Eremin told Lusa, recalling that “when the war started, people were still afraid to speak, but this fear is ending.”
The “Noon against Putin” action invites Russian citizens, in Russia and internationally, to go to their respective polling stations at noon on the last day of the presidential elections “to express a collective position against the current situation politics,” according to prosecutors.
The idea came from Alexei Navalny and was announced on the Russian opposition leader’s social media in early February. Two weeks later, the activist died in prison, where he was serving a 19-year sentence.
After her husband’s death, Yulia Navalnaya has continued in her footsteps of challenging the Kremlin and called on Russians to challenge Putin, proposing that they vote for any candidate but him, leave a null vote or write Navalny in large letters on the ballot paper.
The Russian presidential elections, which have been taking place since Friday, are seen as a mere formality with an anticipated winner, with only candidates classified as friendly towards the Kremlin (presidency) being authorized: Nikolai Kharitonov, from the Communist Party, Leonid Slutsky, from nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, and Vladislav Davankov of the New People’s Party.
Read Also: Putin wins presidential elections in Russia with 87.8% of the votes
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2522989/ao-meio-dia-protestos-contra-putin-juntaram-milhares-de-lisboa-a-vilnius
